It’s finally happened. William Shatner has his own awards show. No, they aren’t called the Kirkies… instead they’ve gone with the Golden Groundhog Awards.
Alright, maybe this really is just a veiled promotional tool for William Shatner’s new DVD of the month club in which he picks unheralded movies and forces you to watch them (Sign up now!The Movie Blog, the award is meant to honor the year’s overlooked films. The Golden Groundhog recognizes outstanding films that no one saw. To qualify, a movie must have grossed less than $1 million domestically and have received “rave reviews” from audiences. That last one seems to me to be kind of a subjective criteria.
It’s no Flaming Hobbit, but as an award idea it seems pretty good. Plus, the awarding ceremony will be hosted by William Shatner. Where do I get tickets?
This year’s nominees for the Golden Groundhog are: Green Street Hooligans, MirrorMask, Nine Lives, Sunnyvale, and Up For Grabs.
The first two on that list are movies I really wanted to see but missed. Nine Lives I did see and hated, and the last two I missed but am pretty indifferent on. Still, as an inaugural class, that’s not a bad start. Hooligans has to be the early favorite. Let’s see how these awards shake out. If they’re done right, this could be something that sticks around for a few years and becomes a legitimate awards fixture.
For a little more information on the “Groundies”, visit their official site.
